Full Practice Authority for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses is a Gender Issue

Abstract

In the United States, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) regulations are determined at the state level, through legislation and rule making. The lack of an evidence base to APRN regulation has resulted in a patchwork of varied regulations and requirements for nurse practitioners. The author begins this article by reviewing the history of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the United States and describing her study that assessed APRN fullpractice authority in states that ratified the ERA versus states that opposed it. She presents the study findings, limitations of the comparison, and discussion of the findings and implications. In conclusion, the findings demonstrated that progress toward full APRN practice will require building strategies for political support and framing the need to update APRN regulations in a manner that aligns with each state’s social and political values.